Jamie, if you pitch an article to a magazine (as opposed to a short story) you'll probably approach them with a query letterÂthe best one you can create. If they go for it, you may find they'd like you to take a somewhat different approach to the article than you had in mind. So I guess what I'm saying is don't put too much time into editing your first effort. :-) I, too, have resolutions relating to health and writing. Exercise is problematic for me. I have fibromyalgia, and even walking too far or too fast can put me in a flare the next day. But I can't keep going along losing muscle and cardio fitness...I have to do something! So I bought Jackie Chan's Cableflex system on eBay and will commit to regular use, no matter how gentle. As for writing, last year I got my first contract for an article with a national magazine. It's important that I take advantage of the door that opens up, and get out submissions on a regular basis. I also want to make progress with my memoir and write more fiction. That's a lot of writing ambition, but the need to write is one reason why I took a part-time job rather than doing the sensible thing and getting full-time employment with paid medical insurance. The other big thing is my house. No surprise there, right? I had one more floor refinished just before Christmas, so now it's time to finally tackle all the boxed, piled, and scattered stuff that's making my downstairs unlivable. It'll be a big project, but 100% necessary. After that I have to learn to paint, and then request delivery of the furniture I bought two years ago. Sounds rather massive, at least to me, but I figure if I schedule even two of my four days off each week, and resign myself to slow-but-steady progress, it'll work. If anyone has ideas for me, they'll be more than welcome. Susan

@nosoccermom - good questions! :) I really love my kitchen. Both the function and aesthetics of it. I must have spent a gazillion hours researching, looking at options, reading, etc. And in the end, I am very happy with my choices. But, there are a few things I would do differently: 1. Prep/bar sink - I would skip it if I were to do things over. I hardly ever use it. I drank the "Gardenweb Kool-aid" regarding prep sinks and should have known it wouldn't be that useful for me. That said, I do like how it looks, and it makes a handy "hiding" place for things on the counter. ;) 2. Ventilation - we have a challenging configuring that was better suited to a downdraft unit. But I love the look of the overhead hood, so went for it. It's not terrible, but I am sure it would function better with a downdraft. I would probably still have the hood facade, but then have a DD for actual ventilation. Favorite things: 1. My appliances (hopefully I won't jinx myself by saying this!). They've all performed beautifully. Love my microwave drawer - so much easier and more functional. French door fridge is great (adore the filtered water dispenser inside); and my induction cooktop and ovens have been wonderful. I got brave enough to try the self-clean function on my ovens not long ago, and it worked great. 2. My backsplash. Makes me happy to look at it. Even though it was a splurge, it was totally worth it. 3. Drawers! Love, love them - especially the ones for pots/pans, bowls, serving dishes and baking supplies. 4. And, similarly - drawer inserts/dividers for spices, knives, utensils, etc. Love having a place for everything! Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any questions...

Oh wow, I am so overwhealmed. I had a busy few days so couldn't get on at all, and there are so many responses :-). You guys really made my day! It's so neat seeing so many other people from my neck of the woods! Jalsya6 - I hope your reno is coming along great. Doing it yourself adds a special element that can't be measured in dollars. It's a labor of love. I see friends (and even friends of friends) donated time in our lighting. I see my grandpa's lifetime of expertise in flooring and the window. I see my brother's love in our archways and our backsplash. And they all imparted knowledge and skills to my husband that he will have forever and is already paying it forward by helping others with their home projects. Not to mention the confidence boost - he feels like he can tackle anything now. Some things just can't be measured in money! mpagmom - funny you mention drinking glasses! People who have never been over before always go for the upper next the fridge and find all our coffee stuff and mugs there. The espresso machine is right below that. We put the drinking glasses in the next cabinet over to the right on the other side of the range hood. It's a pivot and 2 steps from the dishwasher - so easy. The mugs are a few steps away but no biggie because with the handles you can carry 5 at time. We find the set up works well though. Again thanks to Rhome during planning for reitering the dire importance of having ALL my dishes close to the dishwasher. Another "best thing I did". Our plates our in a drawer btw, and I love it! Athomesewing - I actually fired our first custom cabinet guy (and lost the $1500 deposit) over that window!! We faught for months because he INSISTED that I could not get away with anything larger a 5' window there and have it look okay and have enough storage. Evidently to him storage = wraparound uppers. Yuck. That window is 8' wide and not compromising even one inch on that is another one of the best things I did. We bumped it out like I had seen 2 other folks here do, and I just adore the extra space there. My broom closet is 13.5" wide with a 1" filler to the right to allow the door to open. The actual opening of the cabinet is 12", and yes, it's the perfect size! I have found it no issue whatsoever to not have any landing space by the stove. I carry the food over to where I will be working with it (for lets say a turkey) or else directly to the kitchen table (for casseroles). I suspect that if you put in countertop there, you may find yourself not using it. Lisa_a - the hutch bottom is 51" wide. The 6 drawers are SO useful - coupons, bills, reciepts, batteries, etc each have their own drawer. They are way taller than they need to be though. In the final version-that-was-supposed-to-be they are shrunk down to a few inches tall. The actual drawer inside is very shallow - like 2" high and they were going to build taller drawers up to the height of the drawer front if I used it and found them to be too shallow, but I found they aren't. Feel free to steal whatever you'd like. I can even give you a full spec sheet on this hutch and the shorter version if you'd like. I drew up the plans for all of these cabinets on my own software. I included a pic of the outside of the window that we bumped out - the design was grandpa's, the inspiration was from GW, and the work was hubby's and grandpa's. So fun! If I didn't mention you by name, thank you so much for your kindness. It really means a lot. Chocolate bunny - here's the tile close up: closer: Outside of window:

My experience is with stained cabs but since DH and I are likely going to have a painted island and hutch, I've been doing some research into painted cab durability. I will admit to being hesitant, too, so it's great that you started this thread and that so many have responded. I hope you won't mind that I'm adding a question of my own. To owners of painted cabs: If your painted cabs are not factory painted - built and painted by local custom cab maker or built and painted in a paint booth or on site by your GC's painters - I'd love to know what kind of paint was used. TIA! kali2024, my neighbor has white cabs, nearly 20 yrs old. They are the 3rd owners, second owners with small children. And her twin boys are very hard on things. (They are also very curious, nearly ruined the vacuum because they wanted to see what happened when you vacuum yogurt! They crack me up but I'm glad they aren't mine!) Anyhoo, I noticed that despite the cab age and kid thing, only one cab in her kitchen has any visible damage. The drawer in the cab next to the sink has 2 small chips along the top edge. I don't know when these chips occurred or how they happened. For all I know, the chips happened when the POs had the 4x4 white tile counters replaced with 24 x 24 tile counters (the tile edge is quite deep). The builder didn't use any large, name brand cab company (he built our house, too), just a local cab maker. The cabs were likely painted on site by the builder's painters (that's how they painted all the woodwork in our homes). It was oil base paint because that's what they used 20 years ago. Paint needs time to cure before it's as durable as possible. Cure time will depend on how your cabs are painted: factory finished, sprayed in a paint booth by local painter or cab maker or painted on site. So treat them with care while they continue to cure on site (that can take up to 30 days from what I've read).